Determining the center of gravity in an aircraft is important for maintaining aerodynamic control over the aircraft as changes occur over various aerodynamic control surfaces, such as when the elevator, rudder, or ailerons are maneuvered and adjusted by the pilot. The amount of force generated by each aerodynamic control surface changes as the control surfaces change and the aircraft rotates about a point known as the center of gravity. This is the average location of the weight of the aircraft where the mass (and weight) are actually distributed through the airplane. Determining where pallets of different weights are positioned within pallet positions of an aircraft is important to maintain the center of gravity and not have too much weight in one part of the aircraft. Often weight sensing devices are used, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,524 where an apparatus for loading and unloading an aircraft ascertains the individual weight of any type of load, including passengers and hand baggage. Portable pallet weighing and other apparatus are used for determining the weight and center of gravity of an aircraft, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,885 and 4,479,560. Some apparatus, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,090, use an on-board aircraft system for determining the weight and load-related characteristics of an aircraft having landing gear struts and other associated components for determining the load-related characteristics and aid in center of gravity calculations.
However, much of the various load limitations of the aircraft are known because the various characteristics of an individual aircraft are known, including certificate limits and other limits. Much of this information could be used to pre-plan the loading of an aircraft before physically loading the pallets to maintain the center of gravity.